Hello, I am Steve

[Steve22]

Hey everyone,  My name's Steve, I'm new to the Beyond Blue forum haha.  Allow me to introduce myself.. Like many, I too suffer from depression and anxiety. My time in primary and secondary schooling, was well.. The polar opposite of positive. Most of my time in school was shrouded in misery, depression, unrelenting bullying and the list goes on. Despite my best efforts, I've been really struggling to deal with depression (due to unemployment) recently. In order to try and deter depression, I regularly hit the gym (3 times a week) for lengthy sessions at a time. While regularly attending gym is a good thing, it still does not fix the underlining problem of unemployment. After working out rigorously, I often find myself with too much time on my hands. I do enjoy maintaining a very clean car, but you can't be washing it daily lol. I do enjoy hitting the beach, but given that it is winter here in Melbourne, the cold ocean breeze does detract from the overall enjoyment of the beach haha. So why don't I go get a job?.. Ahh yes, easier said than done. When your someone like me, who gets discriminated from applying for jobs due to your heritage (despite having the essential licence), it makes applying for and being accepted for a job.. Impossible. I myself am not one to judge people, I am very accepting of all people, all shapes/sizes, heritage, religion etc. I never judge people on those particular things, but it seems that others judge me purely on my heritage. Maybe employers are scared that a young man with dark brown hair & eyes and olive/tanned skin wants to become a truck driver?, the possibilities are endless. If you must know, I am of Italian heritage. I can't understand why being of that heritage is disliked by employers, it's just ridiculous. I've found that by paying attention, listening and offering advice and tips to many other people in our community, it helps me too. I understand that there are many people who are suffering from depression for different reasons compared to me, It's something that i want to help people with. Having suffered from depression for many years, I'm definitely no stranger to it. I can well and truly relate to it and understand what many are going through. That's why I want to help people, to let them know their experiences are understandable. That's my brief introduction (not really brief, but you know what I mean), I look forward to speaking to and offering advice to many on this forum. Thank you for reading my thread 🙂

[Doolhof]

Hi Steve,

Welcome to the community here at Beyond Blue. I'm sorry to read that you suffer from depression and that you also feel like you are being discriminated against because of your heritage. I was surprised when you mentioned that your are Italian, and feel discriminated against. I have no idea why that might be so.

Australia is a country of many different nationalities, customs and beliefs.

Unfortunately you don't need to be of a different race to be bullied at school. Our family was not from the region where we went to school and we were all picked on due to that fact. Some people just seem to be more content when they feel like they have power and control over someone else.

My husband has been unemployed for two years so I know a little what it is like not having employment. When we moved to this area where we currently live, I was unemployed as well for about 6 months. Even though I had qualifications in child care, no one would employ me because I was not connected to the region.

Now I work in aged care.

Is it possible for you to branch out into something different for a while and then try to get into driving trucks a bit later down the track?

Are you into doing volunteer work to learn new and different skills and to meet people?

You mentioned you wanted to reach out to others to help them with their depression, well you have certainly come to the right place for that!

My feelings of depression have been increased lately thanks to me not coping too well with my Mum's expectations around Christmas! It is still August and already Christmas has become an issue. My husband tells me to stop listening to my negative thoughts. I do try to do that, but they keep popping back into my head! Ha. Ha.

A bit like indigestion, you don't like it but it keeps repeating on you!

cheers for now from Lauren

[Widdershins]

Hi Steve,

Good to see you here. I am also a former transport industry employee and my husband is a road train two up driver based in NSW. Yes the industry is unforgiving and an old boys club. What kind of work are you looking for?

 You sound like you are giving it your best shot with the exercise. I know in this area Men's Sheds are great places for guys to network and find support, I think they are nationwide.

Keep up the good work.

[Narniakid]

Hi Steve22, welcome to the forums and thank you for sharing your story with us.

I am sorry to hear you had such a rough time during your schooling, however I applaud you for going to the gym and looking after your car - excellent distractions that get you out of the house and doing things, well done! I completely understand how frustratingly depressing it is to be unemployed for a long time, it took me about 2 years to find a job, same with my partner, who now happens to work for an employment agency helping other people find jobs. Have you thought about going to an employment agency for some help? They can steer you in the right direction and help spice up your resume and documents and get you ready for job interviews.

What I did, and still continue to do in between work days, is throw myself into volunteer work, short courses and anything that's available to me that will allow me to meet new people, learn new things and gain more and more experience for my resume. The more, the better. Google Open2Study for free certified short courses to give you both something to do in between applying for jobs and to add to your resume.

I understand the frustration of being discriminated against; during my search for a job, I endured a number of rude and disgusting old fashioned employers, and in my current job working at a car parts store, I receive a lot of daily discriminating comments regarding my gender and my knowledge about cars. For the most part, employers are pretty good, so just keep applying and stick it out, because somewhere along the line, somebody WILL give you a chance.

Crystal

[Steve22]

Hey Lauren, thank you :). It's all part of life, I guess, nobody is really immune to depression. I'm surprised about it too, in a sense. Given that the Italian culture has been present in Australia for many generations, it's a bit confusing as to why some dislike me because of that. At the end of the day, just got to bite the bullet so to speak and live it. Your exactly right, there are many, many nationalities here, I'd imagine it would be difficult to put an exact number it haha. I've actually heard of people experiencing exactly that, being picked on because their not from a certain area or region, doesn't make much sense. It's good to know that i'm not the only one who is enduring unemployment, it's a very rough thing. I'm thinking about car detailing, but that requires certificates and such, something I don't have. I have done volunteer work, environmental cleansing, not as of recently, due to financial troubles. Wouldn't mind getting back into that kind of stuff at some stage, see how it goes.  Knowing that helping people in our community helps to brighten their lives, it's a pleasant feeling. I know what it's like to have depression,  especially with the source of it coming from a parent. Your right, it is still August, why must time fly by so quickly?! haha 🙂

[Steve22]

Hey Widdershins,
Thank you :), It's good to know that there are many people who are in or out of the transport industry. I'd imagine there would be a lot of patience and skill needed in driving a road train, long hours and distance on the road indeed. Couldn't agree more, especially with the local councils, their extremely uptight on who they hire. I'm basically looking to get work on the domestic waste collection trucks, for councils/contractors. Many council areas have specific requirements (in terms of waste collection), but they all have one thing in common: there is always waste needing be collected and disposed of haha. It's hard work (all the gym work), I won't deny that, the results are worth it haha. I believe there is a Mens Shed not too far away from my place, I'll have to check it out at some stage soon.

[Steve22]

Thank you Crystal, always welcome. It's good to read, experience and understand life from other people's shoes, to get a better overall understanding of life in general. It's all part of life, finished up school in 2008, that in itself approaching nearly 10 years ago. It sort of feels like yesterday, oddly enough haha. I'm very thankful for the gym, it's a creative outlet in a sense. I think the car's actually up for a full detail job soon, can't stand to see it grubby haha. Your right, they are an excellent distraction, it's an ongoing priority. It's definitely hard to deal unemployment, especially when it  drags on for such an amount of time. Months into a year, it goes by very quickly indeed. If memory serves correct, I have been with a few job agencies here and there in the past. I remember they'd always say something on the lines of: "We always get people jobs!", some of them however aren't as good as others in terms of matching people with work haha. I will look into it soon, it's better than nothing.

That's a good idea, to investigate other stuff. More experience in many fields, the better aha. I'll go check Google Open2Study tonight, something to do on a tuesday night after all haha. It's good to know that i'm not the only one who cops this kind of crap from employers. It does my head in how so unrealistic some of them are. They put ads in Seek, looking for employees for certain jobs. So when you go to them and apply for it, they totally deny looking for employees, but why did they put the ad on Seek in the first place?. Hence why it does my head in haha. I was actually at this car parts store the other week, saw this bloke having a crack at a young lady, regarding an air intake filter. Was like: "Dude.. why are you acting like a fool to her?, she knows what she is talking about". Some customers think their a 'car expert', when in reality, their far from it haha. I'll do my best to continue sending out the resume, that's all that can be done

[Doolhof]

Hi Steve,

You have received a few replies and suggestions here which is great to see.

Regarding your resume, my husband actually went to some of the local businesses and asked if he could see the manager or someone else higher up in the company, and hand delivered his resume to them. He didn't end up getting a job with them but one company did call him in for an interview as they were impressed with his attitude.

Do you have family members or friends who might be able to assist you in finding some employment? Occasionally it is not what you know but who you know that helps you to find a job.

Connecting with a Men's Shed might be a good idea. Who knows what connections you will make there.

Regarding your truck license, do you need to have so many hours if driving to keep your licence? As we moved tot he country, I joined the Country Fire Service. In the brigade I am in we have at least 6 truck drivers. Maybe there is an SES or an organisation like that where you could drive the trucks to incidents.

Thankfully my Mum and I have been able to chat about Christmas so the tension has eased of there which is wonderful. My Mum suffers from depression as well. This insidious illness can manifest itself in so many different ways!

I hope you get a break soon Steve!

Cheers for now from Mrs. Dools

[Steve22]

Hey Mrs Dools, It certainly is, suggestions do help after all. I know exactly what it's like, having to drop off your resume in person to many companies. They all say "i'll get back to you soon" or "one guy is leaving soon, I'll call you when something comes up". But nothing comes of it, just getting fobbed off by all the companies. I've reapplied for work at a company, who've fobbed me off 3 times before, having seen a job vacancy on their website, thought i'd give it one last try. I'm not holding my breath, as them and another multinational corporation are notorious for giving prospective job hunters false hope. At the end of the day, their missing out on a good employee. It frustrates me how insensitive, cruel and how judgmental these gutless corporations are.

A mate of mine, he tried to get me work at a company out in the south east. Did the medical test, no problem, was promised a job and all. It turned out to be nothing more than a mirage, the excuse I was consistently given was: "waiting on the state manager".. After a month of trying, I eventually gave up. What's the point of trying the same company and getting the same reply again and again?.

I'll definitely look into speaking to the local men's shed at some stage, as there's more to life than pushing weights at the gym haha. As far as i'm aware, having a truck licence, like a HR (Heavy Rigid) doesn't require any driving hours to keep it. I've had mine for 13 months now and have had zero use for it (due to the unprofessional employers). I'm in metropolitan melbourne, they've got the MFB, not sure if their hiring or what the situation is.I'm pleased to hear that things have improved for you, in regards to christmas. Nothing beats the feeling of relief of having something stressful taken off your mind. We all have various stresses in our lives, but to have at least one of them gone would help immensely. I'll keep you updated on it all 🙂

[Doolhof]

Hi Steve,

I'm sorry to read you have tried so hard to secure a job and nothing is happening for you! It really is so frustrating when that happens.

I do so hope that something works out for you! I'm now really sure what else to suggest!

Hopefully you will get in touch with the Men's Shed or you will find some other group or organisation to join. We all need company and people to chat with. Do you chat much with people at the gym?

I try to use the local swimming pool three days a week. I say local, it is actually about 20 kilometres away! I try and co-ordinate my trips there with clients in that region. Once a week I use the hydrotherapy pool to do my exercises. Early in the morning I am surrounded by elderly people trying to keep mobile and working through their hip and knee replacement operations.

One lady is very keen to share all of her medical details with anyone who will listen to her. She has a captive audience in the pool.

Maybe it helps her to be able to chat about her medical issues while working on them at the same time. Like I said, we all need someone to chat with.

Hopefully you will soon find someone who is willing to give you a break!

Cheers for now from Mrs. Dools